Your Covid vaccine questions answered by an expert respiratory virologist

Less than a year after the world became aware of a deadly new coronavirus, people are receiving the first Covid vaccines in the UK this week.

While many will be eager to get the vaccine, there is hesitation and concern about vaccinations, largely driven by online misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Dr Robert Lambkin-Williams is a respiratory virologist with more than 20 years experience in the field, and a member of Virology Consult, a consortium of experts in Virology.

He answered a few of our questions about the Covid vaccines.

Are we using a new type of vaccine, and is it safe?

“One of the vaccines, the Pfizer-BioNTech, is a brand new type of vaccine - an MRNA vaccine. It has the benefit of us being able to manufacture it quickly, which is what we've done.

“Crucially, it does not do anything to anybody's DNA - it does not rewrite anybody's DNA. mRNA is a totally different thing in that context. But this new style of vaccine does make it easier and in some ways safer to roll out.”

Will there be side effects from taking the vaccine?

“Any medicine you take will have some side effects and we know there are side effects from these vaccines. Most can be dealt with with a paracetamol.

“There is no reason to think there's anything serious, but we'll monitor it carefully - and it's gone through really tough safety tests.”

Will it hurt?

“It’s very similar to the flu vaccine - I had it a few weeks ago and barely noticed. It won’t hurt any more than that, and, interestingly, there’s research to suggest that if you smile a lot as you’re getting it, it won’t hurt as much.”

Does it provide full immunity, or just suppress the symptoms?

“Firstly, you'll need to have two vaccinations for it to be effective. You'll get some effect after one, you'll get the full effect after two.

“We don't know, particularly with the vaccine that's being rolled out this week, whether that will just suppress your symptoms, which would mean you can still pass on the virus. We don't know how our bodies will react exactly - we know it will give us immunity, and we know it's safe, but we don't know how long that immunity is going to last. And you're not 100 per cent guaranteed to be immune if you've had the vaccine. People must carry on doing the things we’ve been doing.”

Has the development of the new vaccines been rushed?

“If I asked you how long it takes to get across Central London in rush hour, you might give me one answer. But if the